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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22701178">Public Enemies: Paris</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteveM/pseuds/SteveM'>SteveM</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Life after Crisis [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batwoman (TV 2019), Supergirl (TV 2015)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 11:40:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,742</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22701178</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteveM/pseuds/SteveM</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After being declared Public Enemies by Lex Luthor in his new role as Secretary of Defence Supergirl and Batwoman need to find some way of investigating his plans without putting their friends in danger by hiding in plain sight...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kara Danvers/Kate Kane</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Life after Crisis [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623199</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>91</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kara Danvers and Kate Kane were sitting in bed together, each with an arm around the other. While not unusual these days the stunned silence and shocked looks on their faces as they watched the TV news cycle through the only story anyone had any interest in was definitely not normal.</p>
<p>“Once again: Lex Luthor, the new Secretary of Defence, under an executive order from the President, has tonight declared Supergirl and Batgirl public enemies of the United States.” The talking head anchoring the show said gravely into camera before they cut away for a commercial break. It was the tenth time they’d heard that out line since they’d checked into this mid range hotel using Kate’s surprisingly large stash of hard currency. In one corner of the room lay the backpack containing Kate’s Batsuit that Kara had reluctantly taken from a nearby outdoor store, making sure to leave enough cash behind to pay for both the bag and the broken door lock.</p>
<p>“Well…. This sucks.” Kate said quietly, still trying to come to grips with just how off the rails things had gone in such a short space of time.</p>
<p>“Never thought I’d have to go through this again.” Kara replied distantly, her gaze seemingly locked on an unseen horizon.</p>
<p>“Wait… again?”</p>
<p>“Oh… it’s a long story, I promise I’ll tell you it when we’ve got time.” Kara said, flashing back to another Earth and another attempt by Lex to frame her. Except, of course, while Lex was certainly being economical with the truth he wasn’t lying about her part. She had stolen the alien registry database, had corrupted or wiped every other copy. She’d done it protect tens of thousands of innocents but… she’d still broken the law.</p>
<p>“Talking of, any idea what we do next?” Kate asked casually.</p>
<p>“Uh…” Kara tried to think but something welled up inside her and she felt her throat tighten. “I’m so, so sorry about this Kate. I never thought…”</p>
<p>“Hey, no, none of that!” Kate said almost angrily as she pulled Kara into a full embrace. “This isn’t your fault. I went into it with my eyes wide open and Lex decided to up the stakes, that’s all. It was worth it!”</p>
<p>“But..”</p>
<p>“No, no buts. Come on, you’re not seriously going to tell me you talked me into this are you?”</p>
<p>“But I did!”</p>
<p>“Kara, you know me as well, if not better, than anyone alive. What, exactly, makes you think anyone - even you - can talk me into doing something if I don’t think it’s right?” She smiled and kissed Kara’s forehead. “Now if you’d offered anal or something on that level….”</p>
<p>Kara gasped a mix of sob and chuckle, relaxing into Kate’s arms. “Okay, okay I’m done. We’re both idiots, fair enough?”</p>
<p>“Not really but we can argue that one out later.” Kate said with a smile. “Right now we really do need a plan.”</p>
<p>“Go punch Lex into orbit?”</p>
<p>“Correction: we need a good plan.”</p>
<p>“Oh….” There was a long pause and Kate could feel Kara drumming a finger on her back absentmindedly as she considered their options. “Honestly I’m kinda open to suggestions here.”</p>
<p>“Well let’s see. Batwoman and Supergirl are now being hunted so anything in the suits is pretty much out of the question. Lex knows who we both are thanks to hitching a ride during Crisis so going anywhere near our lives is probably… probably… dangerous…” Kate trailed off, a faraway look in her eye.</p>
<p>Kara picked up on it and shot her girlfriend a look. “Yeah, that’s a good point, Lex DOES know who we are… so why didn’t he say that on the air? It’s the perfect opportunity to out us both, why not take it?”</p>
<p>“Normally I’d say being able to hold that over us helps him in some way but as he’s just thrown the entire US government at us I’d say we’re past that point.” Kate said ruefully. “So… hmm, did we get something from his files he thinks we can hold over him in return?”</p>
<p>“Maybe. But then why wouldn’t he come after us as fast as he could, before we have the chance to find it?”</p>
<p>“He couldn’t be sure we hadn’t already found it…. But you’re right, that wouldn’t be enough by itself. I mean, if we did find something, who can we tell about it now?” Kate looked up and saw Kara staring back at her, both of them coming to the same realisation at the same time.</p>
<p>“Lena!” They said in unison.</p>
<p>“It makes sense!” Kara said, talking quickly. “She didn’t want to kill me before Crisis just get back at me for what I did.”</p>
<p>“And she also shot Lex dead, if I’ve got the Earth 38 timeline right?” Kate asked and Kara nodded quickly.</p>
<p>“Yeah, and her plan for taking over the Earth was, in her own way, meant to be for the benefit of everyone. No-one was supposed to get hurt.”</p>
<p>“So if Lex puts out a full-blown hit on you…”</p>
<p>“Or if those files show something particularly nasty he hasn’t let her in on…”</p>
<p>“He’d likely lose her support. And considering she’s killed him once already and outsmarted him a bunch of times that’s something he wants to avoid!”</p>
<p>“Great! So… how do we use that?” Kara asked, going from excited to crestfallen in a heartbeat. “It’s not like she’ll want to see me and she knows I did kinda break into a government facility for her once before so might actually believe this.”</p>
<p>“Right now, we don’t.” Kate said firmly. “That’s for later. What it does do is give us an opportunity to get out of this lovely box Lex is trying to put us in. If we go home, or to work, as ourselves it’d be easy enough for someone to ‘accidentally’ stumble across us. Once we were dealt with they could make up any story they wanted.”</p>
<p>“Or through our friends, our family… “ Kara trailed off and Kate knew exactly where her thoughts had gone.</p>
<p>“Hey, it’s okay, I told you Alex is going to be fine. Putting her in that video might have been intended to ensure she can’t help us but it also means they can’t do anything to her. Hell she looks like the hero in all this, trying to stop the bad girls from getting away only to be blindsided. She’s safe so long as we don’t do anything stupid. Plus I feel a great deal of pity for anyone that decides to take her on right now, she’s likely to use their balls for target practice.”</p>
<p>“Fair point. So we can’t touch our lives, can’t be heroes… what do we do? Go on the run?”</p>
<p>“No….” Kate paused, mind racing as the ideas lined up. Yes, yes it’d work… but… She looked at Kara. “Okay, so I’ve got a plan but you’re probably not going to like it.”</p>
<p>“Can’t end worse than mine did!”</p>
<p>“Well, basically, European Vacation.” Kate said, trying to ignore the self-criticism Kara seemed determined to heap upon herself. </p>
<p>“Uh…”</p>
<p>“No, I’m serious. We bail out, head to Europe. Not Supergirl and Batwoman, Kara and Kate. Lex can’t easily send anyone after us if he doesn’t want to use our identities against us and it buys us time to sift through whatever we’ve got and figure out the endgame.”</p>
<p>“One small problem. If Kara Danvers and Kate Kane just up and vanish at the exact same time Supergirl and Batwoman go into hiding I suspect it’s not going to take a genius to figure out the connection.”</p>
<p>“True. Which is why… umm….” Kara gaped in surprise as the usually sure and confident Kate Kane suddenly looked down, a blush creeping over her cheeks, one finger swirling in the sheet as she stammered over her words.</p>
<p>“Which is why… if you… I mean this isn’t… uh….”</p>
<p>Kara reached out and grabbed Kate’s hand, holding it tightly, her free hand easing Kate’s chin up until the brunette was looking straight at her. “Take your time, whatever you’re going to say is alright.”</p>
<p>Kate drew a shaky breath and blurted: “Which is why we announce that we’re in a relationship.”</p>
<p>Kara hadn’t quite been expecting that and the surprise must have shown on her face as Kate raced on with her explanation. “Look, every time I come out of a club within ten feet of another woman some pap is trying to get a shot that looks like we’re together. Stepping out with you wouldn’t make the front page at the moment but it isn’t that far off either. It gives us the perfect excuse to get away, a nice romantic break far from the inevitable media circus.”</p>
<p>Kara watched Kate babble with quiet amusement and once she’d finished talking let her hang for a moment or two. “Good plan.”</p>
<p>“It is?”</p>
<p>“Of course. It’ll work, can be done right away and requires no lying or coverups on either side. Almost perfect in fact.”</p>
<p>“Almost?” Kate asked, the seriousness of the situation not quite able to remove their usual teasing habits. </p>
<p>“Yeah… you could have proposed.” Kara said with a wink.</p>
<p>“Well, you know, call me old fashioned but I like some stability in my life before inviting someone to share it. Being a wanted felon didn’t quite feel like the right moment somehow….”</p>
<p>“Fair enough.” Kara laughed. “So how do we go about this?”</p>
<p>“Well the news cycle is kinda spoken for right now… let’s end run it. I’ll give Mary a call, fill her in on the details and we can have her use her vast social media network to get the ball rolling. By the time the press catch up we’ll be somewhere over the Atlantic, that ought to keep people interested and make any sudden vanishing acts harder to explain,”</p>
<p>“Good plan. Probably best if she comes here though. Travelling to Gotham by plane would make for a very tempting target and if I know Lex he’s got a way to track me or the Batwing if we try and make our own way back.”</p>
<p>“Right… okay, I’ll give her a call and get things rolling. Funny thing but she’s been bugging me to bring her out to National City on my next ‘business trip’ for a while. Not only does she get to come but she’ll find out what that ‘business’ was!”</p>
<p>“I’ll try and figure out the travel details then.” Kara said, looking to be useful. “I’ll also need to see if I can at least get a message moving to let Alex and the gang know what’s really going on.”</p>
<p>‘Don’t tell them more than they need to know.” Kate cautioned as she padded across to the bag and pulled her phone from a pocket. “DEO still has those truth things at its disposal.”</p>
<p>“It’s okay, I’ve got an idea how to do this so it’s safe.’ Kara reassured her before they both tuned to their respective tasks.</p>
<p>The next eight hours were ridiculously busy. Mary didn’t appreciate being called away from her free medical clinic but as soon as she heard why Kate was calling all protests died. Kate arranged for a first class commercial flight and a couple of doctors to cover the clinic while Mary was out of town and that part of the plan was well underway.</p>
<p>Kara, meanwhile, had her head buried in her notebook. As Kate got off the phone with her step-sister and walked over she noticed the page was covered in odd, angular hieroglyphs.</p>
<p>“Is that Kryptonian?” She asked, slightly surprised she took someone writing an alien language in front of her so well. </p>
<p>“No. Lex has been fighting Superman for… well, since Kal put on the cape actually. He’s almost certainly learnt Kryptonian by now or, at least, can get it translated. This is the language of Daxam, a world that shared the same solar system and… actually, that was about it.”</p>
<p>“Didn’t get along huh?”</p>
<p>“Something like that.” Kara said quietly, her mind flashing to times past in a universe now dead. </p>
<p>“Uh, so Superman can read this then?”</p>
<p>“Maybe but that’s not who it’s going to. At least it’s not who I hope it’s going to.”</p>
<p>“You’ve lost me.”</p>
<p>“I want to keep Kal out of this. Lex must be gagging for a chance to tie him to what I did, take us both down at once.”</p>
<p>“So who’s it for then?”</p>
<p>“Well…” Kara hesitated, well aware how insane this was going to sound but sure in her plan. “Actually I’m going to leave it in a park about a block from here.”</p>
<p>“O… kay.” Kate just let the word hang, waiting for the explanation she knew was coming.</p>
<p>“You met Nia Nall, right, during Crisis? Well her hero name, Dreamer? It’s not just an excuse for sleep-based puns. She can actually dream the future. Sort of, anyway.”</p>
<p>“So you leave this somewhere random and… hope she dreams about it?”</p>
<p>“Pretty much. And that she’ll know to get it to Brainy. Mon-El… uh, he was my boyfriend for a while a few years ago and when he had to leave Earth he ended up catapulted into the future. Like a thousand years into the future. He founded the Legion of Superheroes of which Brainy is a member. Knowing Brainy he probably learnt Mon-El’s language in an evening because he was bored.”</p>
<p>“Right. She dreams where to find it, takes it to the one person on Earth who may know how to read it, he translates and, presumably, tells Nia who can then spread the word quietly away from the eyes of the DEO?”</p>
<p>“Yeah.” Kara gave a nervous grin. “Simple isn’t it?”</p>
<p>“I’m never going to complain about sentient plants again!” Kate said with a laugh. “Honestly, that actually sounds like it might work. Not that it matters really.”</p>
<p>“Huh? Why not?”</p>
<p>“Because you think it will and trust those involved. Life has taught me many things but most importantly never bet against Kara Danvers when her friends are involved!”</p>
<p>Kara blushed and shrugged. “Talking of, I should get going on our travel plans! Have you figured out what to say to Mary yet?”</p>
<p>“Generally, yes, but I’m going to be spending every minute until the camera rolls making it better.”</p>
<p>“Want to impress the media?”</p>
<p>“Sort of. Mostly I want to make sure I live up to the gorgeous blonde who’s sharing my life and get across to the world how amazing she is.”</p>
<p>“You know I’m sleeping with you regardless of flattery right?”</p>
<p>“Of course!” Kate put her hands above her head and stretched out, showing off her astonishing figure. “But this isn’t flattery, this is the truth and I want to get it right!”</p>
<p>Kara chuckled and walked over to her girlfriend, sliding her arms around her neck as she did so. </p>
<p>“You will. You always do.” She whispered then kissed her tenderly. Kate kissed back and with bounty hunters searching for them and their entire lives as they knew them locked away Kara Danvers and Kate Kane fell into bed, putting everything else on hold for a blissful hour where nothing and no-one else mattered but each other.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Oh my god you’re gorgeous!” Mary said enthusiastically before slapping a hand over her mouth and looking for somewhere convenient to die of embarrassment. “Uh… I… umm…. I mean….”</p><p>Kate came to her rescue. “Hey, you’re not wrong. And don’t worry, Kara tends to have that effect on most people even if she’s too damn nice to realise it most of the time.”</p><p>Kara was stammering and blushing furiously but gently reached up, eased Mary’s hand down then wrapped it in hers for a more formal introduction.</p><p>“Hi Mary, I’m Kara, Kate’s told me a lot of very, very good things about you!”</p><p>“She has?” Mary squeaked.</p><p>“Oh yes. That clinic, for instance, that you’re definitely not running on the side and helping the underprivileged of Gotham? Awesome.”</p><p>“Kara Danvers… Kara Danvers thinks I’m awesome? Okay going to need a moment here. But thank you!” Mary giggled as she circled away, making use of what little space the hotel room had to try and get her head straight.</p><p>“Did I mention she’s a serious fan girl of your writing?” Kate asked innocently and quietly enough that only Kara could hear her.</p><p>“Must have slipped your mind.”</p><p>“Weird, you’d think that’d come up.” Kate mused and chuckled as Kara gently slapped her arm in mock annoyance. </p><p>“Okay, okay, sorry about that.” Mary said as she almost skipped back over to them. “I knew Kate’s been seeing someone recently, she’s been way too happy not to be, but never thought…” She visibly paused, taking a breath and forcing down the babble she could feel coming. </p><p>“She’s been raving about you ever since that interview you did with… Dreamer, wasn’t it?” Kate put in.</p><p>“So powerful! And you were great, guiding things along and letting her talk and then I started reading your articles and it was all so honest and inspiring and TV definitely doesn’t do you justice and…”</p><p>“Breathe Mary, breathe.” Kate said with a chuckle. “There’s going to be plenty of time to talk, no need to get it all out now.”</p><p>“And you didn’t say anything to me?!” Mary mock-whispered, turning to face Kate. “You could have at least given me a hint!”</p><p>“Where’s the fun in that?” Kate said innocently. </p><p>“Getting you back for this, just so you know.” Mary threatened then smiled a little nervously at Kara. “So, uh, what, exactly did you want me to do? I mean it won’t be a problem, anything is fine but kinda curious what got me on the first plane from Gotham?”</p><p>“Ah.” Kara said, looking embarrassed. Easy enough, she thought, after all this whole mess was pretty much her fault, although hopefully Mary would buy it as part of the cover story. “Well… the reason Kate didn’t tell you about me, about us I mean is…. I’m not actually… out. As, as…” She trailed off, hoping Mary wouldn’t let her down. She didn’t.</p><p>“As gay?” Mary said with an infectious grin. “Don’t worry, seems like most women get that way around Kate. Personally I think it’s the hair.”</p><p>“You might be right!” Kara laughed. “So we’ve been talking about this for a few weeks now and I’ve told my family, obviously, but the little bit of fame I do have makes things, well, complicated.” She paused again, shuffling on the spot as if nervous by the decision she’d taken. “And then last night I just thought the hell with it, let’s get it over with, one big splash, put up with 15 minutes of interest then let everyone get back to their lives.”</p><p>“And considering you’ve got a social media army in the millions it seemed like the perfect time to introduce you two.” Kate put in. “Plus it was also the quickest way of getting this done before either of us second guesses ourselves.”</p><p>“Either of you?” Mary said, surprised. “But you’ve been… umm… how to put this… “</p><p>“Public and proud of being as straight as a slinky?” Kate asked and Kara dissolved into giggles as Mary nodded. “That’s not what I’m nervous about.”</p><p>“Then what?” Mary asked before her eyes went as big as dinner plates. “Oh! You mean..” She glanced at the blonde reporter and Kate nodded.</p><p>“Yep. Being a girlfriend worthy of this woman is ever so slightly intimidating.”</p><p>Kara blushed and reached out to take Kate’s hand. “Hey, I love you, remember? No ‘worthiness’ requirement here.”</p><p>Mary was practically beside herself at the obvious affection between her sister and her favourite celebrity who she might just, if she was being entirely, 100% honest with herself, have a teensy bit of a girl crush on. And that was before meeting her, that smile alone….  She shook herself out of her thoughts and reluctantly spoke up.</p><p>“Uh, I hate to intrude but you mentioned this was time sensitive?”</p><p>“Hmm? Oh, oh right!” Kate said, tearing herself away from Kara’s gaze. “Yes, sorry. So we’ve got a flight booked out of National City in about five hours and were hoping you’d, well…”</p><p>“Interview us.” Kara said with a smile and wink.</p><p>“Me. Interview you?” Mary was staring at Kara.</p><p>“Sure. You’re a natural in front of the camera and I think we’ve just established you’re easy to talk to.” Another smile and Mary felt like she was flying.</p><p>“Uh, okay, sure, whatever you want.” Mary stammered, glancing around the room. “Uh… how about using that couch by the window? Least there’s a little natural light, not that either of you need the help.”</p><p>Kara and Kate snuggled up on the small couch, arms around each other as Mary perched on the padded arm to get the camera as far back as she could.</p><p>“Okay, that should work…” Mary muttered to herself as she checked the shot. “Ready?” Both Kate and Kara nodded and Mary surged into her intro, trying to treat it as live even though they’d agreed to film first, publish later. Theoretically it was in case either woman got nervous though that was a handy cover for making sure they didn’t say anything Lex could twist around to his advantage.</p><p>“So you’ve all seen my sister Kate on here before. Fabulous philanthropist, the driving force behind the resurgence of Wayne Enterprises and annoyingly gorgeous with it. Well today she has a surprise for the world and asked me to help share it! Sit down for this people, make sure you’re not holding anything breakable… ready? Okay… here we go!”</p><p>Mary flipped the phone to the main camera lens and Kate and Kara’s smiling faces filled the screen. It was all she could do not to give a happy sigh as the two looked so comfortable in each other’s arms. </p><p>“Everyone, meet Kate Kane’s girlfriend, Kara Danvers! Yes, that Kara Danvers! Pulitzer Prize winning ace reporter!” Kara blushed at the compliment and Mary knew that even if she ended the video right there it would set records if only for that look. Still she was determined to give them both what they’d asked for and carried on. “So how did you two meet?”</p><p>“Kara was in town a while back doing some background work on a story. We locked eyes across a crowded room and that was that, at least for me!” Kate said and it was, more or less, true. Granted that story had been trying to track down the book of destiny and the crowd had been Barry Allen and Oliver Queen trying, and failing, not to screw up a simple search mission but still…</p><p>“Took me a bit longer.” Kara said with an embarrassed look. “Hadn’t really ever thought of myself as being into girls and Kate had to work at it make me realise what was staring me in the face.” Not very hard, Kara thought, a comment about tattoos, those beautiful eyes undressing her with every glance… sure it had taken a while to go anywhere but that first proper talk had been enough.</p><p>“And you’re coming out like this? Brave!” Mary said, making it both a question and supportive statement. Kara made a mental note to talk to her after all this was over to see if she was interested in pursuing a career in media, her instincts certainly seemed up to the job.</p><p>“Well we’re getting a little bored of spending our time together hiding from the world. And I figure the instant Kate’s seen out in public with anyone there’s paparazzi everywhere which would just lead to questions so this seemed like a far easier option.”</p><p>“And it’s likely to lead to a lot fewer broken cameras…” Kate added with a slightly menacing tone. “Just because we’re out in public doesn’t mean we don’t value our privacy too.”</p><p>“Which is why we’re also going to give things some time to settle down.” Kara said, taking the ball and flying with it. “Neither of us have had a proper break from work for a year or more so we’re doing so together.”</p><p>“Ooh, sun drenched beaches?” Mary asked with enthusiasm.</p><p>“Culture, actually.” Kate said. “What can I say, as much as I’d love to spend weeks staring at Kara in a bikini she’s clearly a bad influence. So a European tour taking in the sights and walking through history seems like a good first step. Paris, London, maybe Rome... all the classics.”</p><p>“Actually if you’d suggested the beach idea first that might have worked.” Kara said, unable to resist. Mary’s mouth dropped open at this unexpected side to her idol as Kate tried very hard not to drool on camera.</p><p>“Well… there’s always the return leg!” Kate said with a grin that was guaranteed to set the internet on fire as soon as the footage went live.</p><p>“True.” Kara replied and, surprising herself at her boldness, lent in and kissed Kate on camera. It was a brief kiss, at least by their standards, but there was no doubt at all in Mary’s mind that it was 100% genuine. </p><p>“I can’t tell you how happy I am for both of you!” Mary said, unable to keep the giddy delight from her voice. “Can’t wait for you to get back and tell me all about it! Until then… well, eat your heart out CatCo!” Mary said and shut down the phone.</p><p>“That was perfect!” Kate said as soon as the lens was off her. “Thank you so much!”</p><p>“No problem, this will double my subs at least. Probably more.” Mary paused, clearly worried about something. “Uh, Kara, won’t CatCo be made at me casting shade considering you… well, work there?”</p><p>“Let Andrea be mad.” Kara said with a smile. “The non-compete clause only kicks in if I quit, not f she fires me. Plus she keeps pushing for clicks ahead of content so I’m quite happy to see this go to someone who deserves it.” She pulled herself free of Kate and shuffled forward, kneeling to match Mary’s perch on the arm of the couch before hugging her. “Thanks for your help Mary, we really appreciate it!”</p><p>“No… no problem.” Mary stammered again, trying very hard not to mention how good Kara smelled while mentally moving the needle much closer to girl crush than idol. “When are you heading off?”</p><p>“Actually, in about an hour.” Kate said not even bothering to hide the smile from seeing Mary so obviously digging on Kara. “First class all the way, first stop is Paris, then London. After that we’ll see what we fell like.”</p><p>“I’m officially jealous!” Mary declared only to burn red with embarrassment as Kate quirked an eyebrow and replied: “About the itinerary or the company?”</p><p>“Uhhhhh… b..both?” Mary replied and Kara threw Kate her best ‘behave’ look.</p><p>“If it helps any we actually had a room booked at the Hilton across town.” Kara said, laying out the next little bit of evidence to support the story. “Kate was meant to come in today so when she got away early we had to book this as a stopgap. If you want to stay in National City for a few days you’re welcome to use the room at the Hilton. I’m sure my friends would be more than happy to show you around.”</p><p>“Seriously? Yeah, yeah I’d love to!”</p><p>“Great! I’ll ask Nia Nall to swing by after work. She’s an absolute sweetheart and knows ALL the best places to eat in the city.”</p><p>Kara grabbed her phone and dialled Nia’s number.</p><p>“Kara! What’s…”</p><p>“Hi Nia, sorry I bailed on breakfast.” Kara said, cutting across her friend. She didn’t mean to be rude but knowing Lex he’d have everyone under surveillance by now and the last thing she needed was to give him any more ammunition. </p><p>“Look I’m really sorry to have to ask this but can I beg a favour?”</p><p>“Uh, sure.”</p><p>“A friend of mine’s in town for a few days, would you mind showing her the sights?”</p><p>“I… I probably could, yeah. Any idea what she’d be interested in seeing, I mean, it’s a big city!”</p><p>“Oh I’m sure you’ll dream something up before you see her.” Kara said lightly, hoping Nia would get the hint.</p><p>“I’ll get inspiration from somewhere, don’t worry.” Nia replied and Kara could hear the smile in her voice. Great, that gave them a chance at this whole charade working, at least long enough to buy them some breathing room. “You coming in anytime soon? Andrea’s likely to be looking for you to cover this Supergirl story.”</p><p>“Actually no, something else has come up.” Kara felt her mouth go suddenly dry as she tried to walk a very fine line. “I’ve… oh I shouldn’t say this but… I’ve… kinda met someone.”</p><p>“Huh?’ Nia sounded exceptionally confused, as well she might knowing full well that Kara and Supergirl were one and the same.</p><p>“I promise it’ll all become clear in a couple of hours and I’m sorry not to tell you earlier but this is all a bit, well, spontaneous.”</p><p>“Okay… well, you don’t have to be sorry but you do have to be happy, deal?”</p><p>“Deal!” Kara laughed. “Oops, I’d better go, see you soon Nia.”</p><p>“Take care Kara.” Nia said, hanging up and slipping out of the office to a handy little-used supply cupboard for a quick cat nap.</p><p>“I’ve asked the car to get here early so we can drop Mary off at the Hilton before heading for our flight.” Kate said, sliding her own phone into her pocket. </p><p>“Good idea! Thanks again for coming all this way Mary. Once we’re back though I want to catch up properly, get to know each other.”</p><p>“Get to… uh… yeah, yeah I’d like that!” Mary said, rallying valiantly as the three of them headed out of the room.</p><p>“Actually… oh crap… I’ve just remembered I’ve left my passport at my place!” Kara said with a look of chagrin. “Uh… tell you what, you two head to the Hilton and I’ll meet you there, trying to get a limo around my neck of the woods is likely to take far too long.”</p><p>There was a small argument from Mary but Kara charmed her way out of it. As soon as the car was out of sight she ducked into an alley, switched to her Supergirl suit and shot straight up until she was safely above the cloud layer. From there she made three quick stops. The first was to hide the letter for Nia, the second to the Batwing hanger to grab a copy of the data they’d stolen from Lex along with the relevant ID’s and passports for both of them from their emergency cache. The third, and most awkward, was to pop in to her favourite clothing store and pick up enough dresses, casual wear, suits and underwear for both her and Kate to last a couple of weeks. Maxing out her credit card wasn’t a huge problem, after all Kate would cover the bill, but trying to explain to the clerk why she was packing directly into two clearly brand new suitcases was considerably more embarrassing. Still, she managed it and rolled up to the hotel bang on time.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A couple of hours later Kara and Kate where walking across the connecting jet bridge into the Airbus A380 waiting on the tarmac to whisk them away to the old world. Kara had originally been going to book something sensible for the flight, economy plus was her usual bet if only because she didn’t do well on planes with a reclined seat right in her face. Brought back far too many memories of her pod and the mad dash race from Krypton. Kate, however, had given her a five minute crash course in living like a billionaire and she’d booked accordingly.</p><p>They were ushered into first class and the personal attention and luxury experience were almost enough to distract Kara from worrying about government agents storming the plane and dragging them off. Not that they *could* drag her off of course, but stopping them would likely give away her secret identity and she’d rather avoid that. Thankfully that didn’t happen and they were led by their own personal attendant to suite 1 on the gigantic aircraft. </p><p>Kara knew she’d got things right when even Kate whistled quietly on seeing their home for the next twelve hours. The space was huge, more of a hotel room really. Two enormous leather recliners sat next to each other at the rear of the suite, each with a fold out table on one side with a waiting welcome glass of champagne. In front of the chairs… was a full blown double bed coming out from the side of the plane with a comfortable gap between it and the full height aisle wall to let whoever was on the rear most side step around to the private bathroom without disturbing the other. Better still when the door was slid closed it, too, went to the ceiling giving them a level of privacy that was both ridiculous and desperately wanted after the last twelve hours.</p><p>Kara kept scanning their surroundings for any sign this wasn’t going to be a normal flight but by the time they’d lifted off the ground it was clear that, at least for now, they were free and clear.</p><p>“And that’s that…” Kate breathed, easing back in the chair with a sigh. “Mary’s video should go live in about five minutes.”</p><p>‘You know that’s the only part of this that’s annoying me.”</p><p>“You’re… annoyed at being publicly linked to me?” Kate said and her voice was so small and sad that Kara was out of her chair to hug her before the sound had died away.</p><p>“No! No no, not at all. I’m annoyed at not being in the office when it goes public! God I’d have loved to see their faces….”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Of course! I know for a fact at least two of them have you on their freebie list. Hell I’m pretty sure Andrea has a thing for you too considering her reaction to my mentioning your name. And I’m the one who gets you… kinda want to rub that in their faces a little.”</p><p>“Sorry.” Kate said quietly.</p><p>“For what?”</p><p>“For ever doubting you. Promise I’ll get better at that.”</p><p>“Want to kiss it better?” Kara asked with a playful smile.</p><p>“Very much so but they were pretty clear on not using the bed until we hit 30,000 feet.”</p><p>“Awwwww….”</p><p>“Tell you what, get back in the chair and turn to face me.” </p><p>Kara did as she was told, the space so large that the two chairs could face each other and still have a two foot gap between them. The moment they were lined up Kate slipped her foot out of her shoe and laid it in Kara’s lap. Her toes started to travel over Kara’s crotch, the denim a suddenly insubstantial barrier as far as the Kryptonian was concerned. It felt wonderful coupled with the risk of being overheard or discovered and it wasn’t long before Kara had her hands up above her head gripping the seat, her hips rolling as Kate worked her over. It didn’t help her frustration that Kate had set the screen behind her to show their flight info and Kara’s eyes were glued to the altitude number as it ticked past 26,000 feet.</p><p>“So… looking forward to Paris?” Kate asked casually with an evil grin that didn’t do anything to help Kara’s self-control.</p><p>“Uh-huh” Kara replied, not trusting that anything longer wouldn’t turn into a groan. 27,000 feet…</p><p>“Romance, luxury dining and the best clubs in the world.” Kate said as she tapped her toes rapidly with pinpoint precision then laughed as Kara’s eyes rolled back in her head. “What do you think, want to go to the big gay nightspots first or would you prefer to ease into it?”</p><p>“W… whatever you want.” Kara bit out, hands gripping the chair arms and causing an ominous creaking from the leather. </p><p>“Well that opens up a world of possibilities! But what if the concierge can’t lay their hands on a paddling pool and 20 gallons of jell-o at short notice?” Kate asked innocently and Kara’s mouth worked soundlessly as Kate ground her heel in a place that would have had any normal woman begging for mercy but just felt good for the Girl of Steel. 28,000 feet, Kara thought to herself.</p><p>“We… we can… make do….”</p><p>“Oh I’m sure we’ll think of something but you’d look so good in green.”</p><p>Kara’s head rocked down and she stared at Kate hungrily as 29,000 feet popped up behind her…</p><p>“Or red. Or maybe black. Might have to put aside a few nights to find out for sure.” Kate winked, driving her toes forward as hard as she could. </p><p>“Mmmmaybe.” Kara couldn’t quite keep the moan from her lips but was almost beyond caring. 29,500 feet…. So close now….</p><p>“Hey you can’t blame me.” Kate said innocently. “For the first time I get to have you all to myself without worrying who hears.” She dropped the innocent act and put as much raw desire into her voice as she could. “So I’m going to get you to scream my name every single night Kara Danvers!”</p><p>As she said the last word Kara saw, through the dim red mist of desire burning around her, the digits flicker and change. 30,000 feet.</p><p>She moved so quickly Kate could barely follow her, dashing forward, plucking the brunette from her chair and throwing them both onto the bed. She landed on top of Kate, her hands gripping her wrists, their lips an inch apart.</p><p>“You first Kate Kane!” Kara growled before dropping down on to the helpless human below her with a passion that took their collective breaths away.</p><p>The rest of the flight passed in a daze of sex, cuddling and food as their personal attendant discreetly checked in to take their orders and had the good grace to not say a word about the increasingly rumpled nature of the bed every time he came in. By the time they touched down on French soil both women felt like a little chunk of their lives had been restored and while not exactly rested they felt ready to take on the challenge that awaited them.</p><p>A challenge that, as it turned out, started a lot sooner than they'd expected. The moment they had a signal both of their mobiles lit up with messages and missed calls. Thankful for the privacy of the suite as their plane taxied to its ramp they both caught up as quickly as they could. For Kate that was mostly dealing with a flood of media requests, both through Wayne Enterprises and annoyingly a few direct to her private number. Clearly someone had done some digging and she made a mental note to get it changed once they were back home.</p><p>Kara was more interested in fielding the messages from her friends and family. As she was only an employee of CatCo they weren't in a position to send any queries on and no-one with her number was likely to give it out. Instead she read and re-read the carefully worded missives from Alex, Brainy and J'onn congratulating her and (in Alex's case at least) expressing their annoyance and desire for suitable payback that they'd found out this way. Nia's was broadly similar though it also covered off Mary being taken care of. Between all of them it was clear that her message had gotten through, Brainy had been able to understand it and everyone was at least vaguely in the loop. How on earth they'd ever get back to her she didn't know, especially with an ocean between them, but that was a problem for another time.</p><p>The immediate problem came about as soon as they got off the plane, through the dedicated first class arrivals lounge and stepped outside heading for their taxi. A burst of flash bulbs went off to their left and Kate automatically went to raise a hand to try and spoil their shots only to find her wrist wrapped in a gentle, soft, but utterly unbreakable grip. As her instinctive reaction gave way to a more reasoned approach she smiled at Kara and they walked, unhurriedly, to the waiting car. They didn't pose or wave or even smile at the cameras, instead staying wrapped up in each other. The results were guaranteed to be global news before they'd even left the camera and every photographer crammed in to the small sidewalk knew it. Love was love and these two were doing nothing to hide it.</p><p>"Well that was... different." Kara said once the limo had pulled away.</p><p>"I'd say you get used to it but it feels wrong to lie to you as soon as we step into another country." Kate quipped.<br/>"Any suggestions?"</p><p>"A good right hook?"</p><p>"I'll leave that to you dear." Kara laughed, leaning back and wrapping an arm around her... her what, she wondered suddenly. Girlfriend? Yes, absolutely, but for some reason that word suddenly felt inadequate. Wife? Too soon though, to her surprise, not too scary a thought. Casual fuck buddy? Not any more, they'd hurtled past that point what felt like a lifetime ago. In her head she settled on Partner, at least for now. Somehow it seemed to fit no matter what masks they were wearing.</p><p>Kate saw the thoughts flickering across Kara's face and pulled her close, resting her head on the taller woman's shoulder. She had a pretty good idea what was going through Kara's mind, mainly because she'd had similar thoughts somewhere over the mid-Atlantic when she'd woken up to find Kara curled up beside her, a stray shaft of sunlight illuminating her hair and the softest smile Kate had ever seen. Unseen in their little private refuge in the sky she'd just sat there and watched the alien beside her sleep while the fingers of her right hand traced a spot on her own throat. A hole in the pattern she'd deliberately left blank when  she'd started amassing her tattoos, a spot that mirrored the inked lines of her own name on the left of her neck. Maybe, she'd thought, it was time to fill that particular hole.</p><p>The hotel was everything Kara had expected of French luxury and more. Bright and open, glass everywhere with period furniture lovingly maintained and soft fabrics swirling around gold accents. Two large desks would prove handy for their work and the four poster bed would do likewise for their cover story. The porter slipped their suitcases into place and took his leave with a discrete bow.</p><p>"I'm going to let you book our trips more often!" Kate said, looking around appreciatively. </p><p>"First luxury hotel that had availability." Kara fibbed, not wanting to admit how many she'd gone through before finding one with a four poster bed just in case.... well, just in case she thought with a small grin.</p><p>"Right, of course, absolutely believe that 100%" Kate replied opening up her suitcase and raising an eyebrow. "Oh, I seem to have got your case."</p><p>"Uh... no, no that one's yours" Kara said with a nervous glance. "Sorry but I didn't exactly have time to be picky."</p><p>"That's alright, I'm fabulous enough to make it work." Kate said, pulling a snug fitting sweater from the case with a high turtle neck collar and long sleeves. She held it up to her slim frame while striking a seductive pose that was somewhat out of keeping for anything that didn't feature leather and lace.</p><p>"Hmm, mixed messages but you could get away with it." Kara teased, trying to stay focused. "So what's the plan, I mean it's got to be about... what, 9 in the morning?"</p><p>"Well let's get over the jetlag, have a first run through the Lex data then head out somewhere for a nice quiet romantic evening." Kate said after some thought. "That's in keeping with two new lovers who took a spur of the moment trip over many timezones, right?"</p><p>"Works for me." Kara said, reaching for the laptop that Kate had arranged shipped to the hotel. "I'll get to work, you catch up on some rest."</p><p>Kate opened her mouth to argue, to protest that just because she was merely human it didn't follow she was less capable of powering through than the mighty Kara Zor-El. Unfortunately the words were drowned in a yawn and she nodded reluctantly. </p><p>"Okay, but wake me up the moment you find anything!"<br/>"I will, now get to bed." Kara said firmly but kindly. Within minutes Kate was curled up under the silk sheets, her breathing slowing as she relaxed and drifted off. When Kara looked back half an hour later she had moved in her sleep, hooking a spare pillow and pulling it close. Kara focused her hearing and very, very softly so as to be little more than a whisper of breath, heard Kate mummer "Kara" as she dreamed. For a moment the Girl of Steel wanted nothing more than to give it all up, crawl into bed with this remarkable woman and never leave it again. But... but no, she sighed, there was far too much at stake for that.</p><p>Besides, she thought more cheerily as she turned back to her work, for the first time... well, ever it might just be possible for her to have her romantic life, professional life and hero life line up without any complications in the way. That thought lifted her spirits enormously and she started flicking through the reams of documents with fresh enthusiasm.</p><p>It was dark outside when Kara finally shook Kate awake.</p><p>"Hey, how're you feeling?" Kara asked with a soft smile.</p><p>"Better. Why don't the Luthor's of this world figure out a way to beat jet lag rather than take over the place? Instant hero status!"</p><p>"Talking of, no luck so far, sorry. Though I've filtered out about, oh, four years of daily emails, policy documents and process diagrams."</p><p>"Ouch. So ready for lunch then?"</p><p>"Dinner. And yes, very much so."</p><p>"Give me fifteen minutes to get the taste of pillow out of my mouth and see if there's anything in the Kara Danvers summer collection that fits the moment?"</p><p>"Sure." Kara said with a knowing smile. "I think there should be a lovely pink jacket in there somewhere."</p><p>"Oh, great." Kate replied in a completely deadpan voice as she vanished into the dressing room. A few seconds later Kara made out the rustle of fabric as Kate started to root through the suitcase. "And no peaking!" Kate called through the part-open door.</p><p>"Wouldn't dream of it." Kara lied as she turned away to change. This one, at least, had been easy as she already owned the dress in a light purple and dark green so knew it not only fitted but suited her. Granted it was more of a work dress with its relatively conservative cut but the fit was on the right side of tight and the black fabric was a nice contrast to her smooth, tanned skin. She quickly worked her hair into something suitably intricate, letting it fall down the right side of her face and neck, then snagged a simple gold watch for her wrist, a matching black and gold purse and black heels.</p><p>A click from behind her announced the closing of the dressing room door as Kate stepped back into the main suite and Kare turned... only to stop dead and stare. The brunette had teased her short hair back, leaving it slicked into a frozen wave and bright eyes sparkled as they watched her every move. Or would have, if she was moving, but Kara was frozen in place, transfixed by her lover. Technically she was wearing a simple black suit, cut a little loose and with the jacket hanging open, its high collar caressing the slender throat in a way that reminded Kara of the batsuit. But all of that was a sideshow...</p><p>"So, what do you think?"</p><p>"Uhh....."</p><p>"Good?"</p><p>"Uh-huh."</p><p>"Approve?" </p><p>Kara couldn't even manage a grunt and just nodded, still not able to pull her eyes away. The suit jacket was indeed hanging open and underneath... was nothing. It looked for all the world that a simple breeze would give any passer-by a sight they'd never forget. Kate's ridiculously toned body was on full display while being, technically, fully dressed.</p><p>"Uh... you.... ummm....."</p><p>Kate laughed and gave Kara a slow twirl. "Sure you like it?"</p><p>A tiny pilot light of rational thought poked insistently at Kara's metaphorical ribs, pointing out that the jacket hadn't moved when she'd spun. The rest of her though didn't notice as she was too busy sweeping Kate into her arms and kissing her deeply.</p><p>"I'll take that as a yes then?" Kate said when they surfaced.</p><p>"Yes. Definitely yes. Yes." </p><p>"You okay?"</p><p>"Getting there."</p><p>"Want to eat?"</p><p>"You?"</p><p>"No, dinner."</p><p>"Do we have to?"</p><p>"Kara Danvers turning down a meal? Truly these are the end times!"</p><p>"Not turning down just... delaying. Until tomorrow."</p><p>"Sorry lover but we've got to eat."</p><p>"Room service?"</p><p>"No, we've got to be seen, remember?"</p><p>"Pretty sure they'll just see you!"</p><p>"That ass in that dress? They'll see both of us."</p><p>Kara shook her head, trying to get images of Kate standing over her bound body in that outfit out of her head. It didn't really work but she managed to fight back to something resembling reality.</p><p>"Okay, okay, I think I'm good now. Little warning next time?"</p><p>"Where’s the fun in that?"</p><p>"Right, that's it, come on." Kara grabbed Kate's hand and started for the door. "We go, we eat, we're back here as soon as possible and I'm going to find out how much tape you've used!"</p><p>"See if you'd put it like that in the first place we'd have been gone already."</p><p>"Don't push it." Kara advised with a longing look at the gorgeous woman clutching her hand.</p><p>"Oh I haven't begun to push yet Kara..." Kate breathed.</p><p>True to her word Kate Kane really hadn't started and over the course of a delicious but excruciating dinner Kara found out how truly diabolical her partner could be. She’d known she was in trouble from the moment the maitre d had started to guide them to a table for two only for Kate to mutter something with a dazzling smile and get them a small, round booth in a secluded corner. On the plus side it did mean they could sit side by side and Kara very much wanted to be close to Kate at that moment. On the downside it meant they were close…. Which gave Kate free rein to mercilessly tease Kara to distraction.</p><p>When the wine waiter came by to take their order Kara suddenly found a hand skating along her thigh and around her hip. Their starter was served with an accompanying foot twisting and sliding over her bare leg. Just for variety the main course didn’t see any physical contact but Kate somehow managed to keep deep, intense eye contact throughout that was almost more effective than her fingers at getting Kara squirming.</p><p>Dessert was the worst by a country mile, though of course that also made it the best to Kara’s confused mind. A light lemon sorbet shouldn’t, in theory, be of any aid to teasing your girlfriend to the point of insanity but Kate proved up to the challenge. After a quick glance around to make sure the next few seconds would be private she ‘accidentally’ let a chunk of the cold desert slip from her spoon and land on her naked flesh. Without looking away from Kara’s hungry gaze she reached out, picked up a napkin… and dropped that too, this time to the seat between them. As Kara automatically reached to pick it up Kate snaked a hand into her hair and pulled her face down between her breasts. Acting on desire Kara’s tongue flicked out to snag the tasty treat and as her lips kissed away the last drops Kate pushed her back upright. </p><p>For a long moment there was silence, Kara staring at the brunette trying to process what had just happened. Had they… in public…. And then…. Kate could read the thoughts as clear as daylight and simply nodded confirmation, the evil grin on her face not helping Kara concentrate on her brownie one little bit.</p><p>She’d thought they could pay the bill and go but Kate instead ordered coffee then half turned to snuggle back into Kara as they watched the band perform. Once the cups arrived and they were, again, alone, Kate shifted slightly, lifting herself up and backwards until she was perched in Kara’s lap. Of course to the Girl of Steel the extra weight was no problem at all but the slow grinding of hips and ass into her crotch was an entirely different story.</p><p>By the time the last of the coffee had been drunk Kara was physically shaking and whimpering in Kate’s ear. She knew full well she’d resorted to begging on at least three occasions but every time Kate had rewarded her with a hand slipping up the slit of her dress to tickle and tease her thigh and hip, never quite getting to where Kara desperately wanted her to go.</p><p>Finally Kate showed mercy, slipping off Kara and paying the bill before they walked back towards the lifts. Kara was unable to take her eyes off Kate for a single instant, every twist and turn, rise and fall of her body seemed to call her. The elevator arrived and, to Kara’s relief, the car was empty.</p><p>The instant the doors closed and they started to rise Kara slammed Kate up against the mirrored back of the car, holding her hands above her head as she kissed her like she was the last good thing on Earth. To her relief their journey was uninterrupted and the thirty or so seconds it took for the elevator to climb to their floor left them both breathless with desire. They tumbled out of the doors as they opened silently on their floor, wrapped in each other’s arms and not caring who saw. Kate, aware that the almost uncontrollable Kara was at least partially her fault, made sure she got to their room first and tapped the keycard on the lock. In Kara’s current mood she was likely to just punch the door out of the way, secrecy be damned!</p><p>The moment they made it inside and the click of the door closing gave them some privacy Kara pounced. She picked Kate up in her arms and dipped her head to kiss the eager lips that called to her then, with inhuman aim, lobbed the brunette through the air to land in the centre of the four poster bed. A blur of movement and Kara, now naked, was stretched out on top of Kate, her lips and hands working feverishly in the slot revealed by the open jacket. </p><p>A few minutes later Kate’s screams of joy were faintly but distinctly audible to the three journalists that had managed to track the couple down and all of them made their own notes to confirm that, if nothing else, Kara Danvers and Kate Kane were most definitely telling the truth about being a couple.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Both Kate and Kara slept in the next day, their bodies still resetting to European time zones. Surprising even herself Kate was first to rise and couldn't help but stare at the blonde sharing her bed. Quietly she wondered if she'd ever get used to Kara's perfect figure, her skin showing no sign of the usual bumps and scrapes a human picked up just living their lives, her metabolism burning off calories before they had a chance to so much as think about her gaining an ounce, let alone pounds. A dopey grin spread across her face as she realised that, for the first time in what felt like forever, she wouldn't mind spending the rest of her life finding out. </p><p>Padding silently to the desk she grabbed her phone and sent through a room service request via the hotel intranet. It would probably have been quicker to call but right now she didn't have the heart to disturb the other woman. Instead she sat in the high backed chair and just watched Kara sleep. Even like this she was fascinating, the way her body moved half-hidden under the sheet was just a little different to a human, lighter somehow as if her subconscious was always trying to fly. </p><p>"When did I fall this hard for you Kara Zor-El?" Kate thought to herself but she knew the answer. Sure the moment she'd laid eyes on the woman she'd wanted to sweep her into bed and do terrible, terrible things to her but she couldn't believe she was alone in that reaction. Then she'd been parading around in the super skirt which... had been somewhat distracting, even with the cowl on. But, again, physical attraction. No, the moment that had broken down every wall Kate had ever built had been a simple one, had been a simple choice presented to her by Kara herself.</p><p>"It's okay, we're all on the same side!"</p><p>"Are we? Because I don't know them."</p><p>"But you know me! And if you were brought here with all these other heroes it's probably because we need you. I trust everyone in this room with my life, including you."</p><p>Standing in the DEO, on another Earth, surrounded by potential threats after having been transported across universes without warning or permission Kate had found herself as alone as she'd ever dreamt of being. At that moment the cowl had never felt so heavy, the mantle of the bat crushing her. And there, in the middle of it, had been Kara. Standing tall and proud, so real you could have anchored the entire multiverse to her. And while she'd never asked directly the implication was obvious. Trust me like I trust you</p><p>And in that instant Kate realised she truly did. Despite having only really met her once before, despite all of her defences and caution, Kate found herself trusting Kara Danvers more than anyone she'd ever known. In those compassionate blue eyes she'd found the courage to not only trust her but those around them, to open up and share her secret even if it made her vulnerable. Slipping off the cowl had felt like a moment of revelation, the world shifting beneath her feet as she found her place within it more firmly than ever before. All because of Kara.</p><p>There was a gentle knock on the door and Kate was halfway across the room before remembering she wasn't exactly dressed for company. Or at all for that matter. She snagged a robe and went to great the, as it turned out rather cute, waitress that eased a fully laden trolley into the suite. Just for a moment Kate saw the unfamiliar eyes go wide as she caught a glimpse of Kara stirring in the bed, the sheet dipping dangerously low as she did so. She glanced back at Kate with an apologetic look and got a knowing wink in return. Blushing she backed out of the room and Kate brought one of the two gold trays over to the bed.</p><p>"Mmm, morning." Kara murmured, stretching lazily before her nostrils managed to get her attention. "Wait is... is that..." She sat up, the sheet falling away in her excitement. "Bacon! And fresh bread and eggs and... wait, bacon?" She sent a questioning glance at Kate who shrugged.</p><p>"I may be Jewish but that doesn't mean I'm going to deprive you of anything. Besides it was worth it for..." She gestured to Kara's nakedness and the blonde blushed crimson. </p><p>"Oh! Oh, uh,...."</p><p>Kate chuckled and blew Kara a kiss, not daring to get between the Kryptonian and breakfast. She did, reluctantly, lob a t-shirt in Kara's direction though. After all, Kate thought, being with someone occasionally means putting their needs above your own, right?</p><p>"So what's the plan once we're done refuelling? Kate asked.</p><p>"There's a bunch of architect plans in the data dump which... seemed odd." Kara replied. "Probably worth looking in to."</p><p>"Sounds like a decent starting point." Kate agreed. "But not all day. We need to put in a public appearance after missing out yesterday."</p><p>"Well... we could go full tourist?"" Kara suggested. "I'm assuming you haven't been here before?"</p><p>"Nope, never had the chance. You?"</p><p>"As Kara? No. Well, not for longer than it took to pick up the occasional food order anyway."</p><p>"Any preference for tonight?" Kate asked and was met with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>"Not like that!" Kate would have lobbed a pillow across the bed but Kara had taken refuge behind her bacon and it just wasn't worth the risk. "Honestly, I'm starting to think I'm a bad influence or something."</p><p>"More like the best influence." Kara said happily. "Confidence isn't a bad thing Kate and I seem to have more of it when I'm around you than I do when I've got the S on."</p><p>"You know I'm going to be quoting that at some point, right? Most likely in the middle of an argument?"</p><p>Kara shrugged. "Probably but it's true. Anyway, to answer your question, I think I've got tonight covered and while I know you're not a fan I'd like to keep it a surprise if that's okay?"</p><p>"You know what, after you managed not to jump me in the middle of a crowded restaurant I'd say you've earned that one. Sure, surprise away!"</p><p>The initial trawl through the cache of building plans Kara had spotted went slowly, mainly thanks to there being over a hundred sets to check and neither of them knew what, if anything, they might be looking for. They were well into their third hour before something jumped out at Kate.</p><p>"Uh, Kara... take a look at this would you?" She said, passing the laptop over. "That 'earthing strip' coming from the aerial, see it?"</p><p>"Yeah..." Kara worked her way down the plan, scrolling the screen while keeping her eyes locked on the thin blue line. "Hmm, it seems to go... into... a maintenance room?"</p><p>"Glad we both got to the same place." Kate said. "And I might be new to this whole real estate business but that doesn't look normal to me. Actually, hang on a second...." She started checking the rest of the plan then whistled quietly. "Huh, so if this is right that room is getting a LOT of power. Like more than half the tower combined."</p><p>"Really? What on earth needs that much juice?" </p><p>"Very good question but not an earthing strip that's for sure. Doesn't like like there's a huge amount of data going in there, just a couple of lines. No water, no gas... Hmm, weird."</p><p>"One way of putting it. Where's that particular building anyway?" </p><p>"This one's in... Central City. Looks like a redevelopment project of an existing Luthorcorp tower."</p><p>"Redevelopment? Not a new build?"</p><p>"Nope, looks like it was completed... two years ago."</p><p>"Not that anything pre-Crisis means much." Kara pointed out. "Lex basically rewrote his part of the world so he'd basically 'inherit' whatever he wanted to be ready for him when we put everything back together."</p><p>"Fair point. So... keep looking to see if this isn't a one off?"</p><p>"Worth a shot."</p><p>Another hour ticked by and they found five more buildings with similar designs. In every case the highest point was connected to a mysterious room with a load of power and not much else. </p><p>"Right... so we've got six weird interior design decisions scattered all over the world. Anything else?" Kate asked.</p><p>"Not yet, but it's a start at least." Kara replied trying to be optimistic but unable to keep some of the frustration out of her voice. "Plus one of them's in London so we can maybe have a quiet poke around when we're there in a few days."</p><p>"Because Lex Luthor isn't going to notice us sneaking around one of his buildings when we've announced we're in town?"</p><p>"Actually..." Kara flipped her laptop around to show Kate the tourist info on the building in question. "It's open to the public, viewing platform 72 floors up, two restaurants the lot. I was planning on sending him a selfie."</p><p>Kate just stared for a long moment then burst out laughing. "I guess it can't make things much worse, why not!"</p><p>"Glad that's settled, now about that romantic sight seeing tour....."</p><p>"I... don't remember saying romantic tour..." Kate said with a sly smile.</p><p>"It's Paris, kinda implied really. Plus, well, I'm going somewhere with you, romance is pretty much a package deal at this point."</p><p>Kate felt herself blushing and spread her arms wide as she bowed. "How can I possibly argue otherwise? Five minutes?"</p><p>"Slowpoke." Kara teased, blurring as she fixed her hair into a perfectly brushed ponytail faster than Kate could blink.</p><p>"Yeah yeah..." Kate muttered, heading off to get dressed. "Oh, and while we're out we need to swing by somewhere with style for a little retail therapy."</p><p>"What's wrong with what you've got?" Kara asked, pouting to such a ridiculous degree it actually crossed the line back over into sexy.</p><p>"Nothing." Kate said matter of factly. "It's just a little... uh... conservative for this sort of trip."</p><p>"Uh-oh..." Kara breathed under her breath too quietly for Kate to hear. Last night had been difficult enough to get through without ravaging her girlfriend in the middle of the restaurant and that'd been a spur of the moment getup cobbled together from what came to hand. Kate Kane with a budget, the entirety of French fashion and evil intentions sounded like a more lethal recipe than a Kryptonite smoothie.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The afternoon passed in a happy blur as they toured the streets of Paris seemingly without a care in the world. They wandered down the banks of the Seine lost in each other. As they were in public they had to be cautious not to let their mutual secrets slip so talked about their other lives, their regular lives. Kate opened up to Kara fully about her past, how the Joker seeking only to cause a brief distraction to avoid capture, had rammed their car off the bridge, how she’d made it out but both her mother and Beth had fallen. About the endless search until finally, finally her father had told her Beth’s remains had been found. About moving on as best she could, about military school, about Sophie, about getting kicked out and wandering the Earth looking for any way she could improve to prove she was worthy of joining the crows. And about how Beth, now Alice, had come back into her life and changed it all, had led her to the mantle of the bat and from there to being a symbol of hope for Gotham she still wasn’t sure she could live up to.</p><p>Kara had heard some of this before of course, mainly during their time trapped at the Vanishing Point. But this was the first time she’d heard it all at once and much of it was new to her. As Kate talked Kara slid an arm across her shoulders, hugging her as best she could while they moved through the crowds. Kate dropped an arm around Kara’s waist in return and to her surprise found reliving that horrible time more bearable, as if Kara was with her when it was all happening, an unseen angel lifting her up and helping her through the heartache. </p><p>Kate finished her long, sad tale just in time for them to sit on the grass at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and Kara held her close for a few long minutes. To Kate’s surprise there weren’t any tears but her body shook as she finally, after far, far too long, let go of the pain and accepted there was still a life to be lived. When she settled she looked up and found Kara gazing down at her with nothing but love in her eyes.</p><p>The kiss was the sort of kiss Kate had dreamt of while she was being mocked for coming out, while the world tried to crush her down. Sweet, tender, caring and with barely-suppressed desire burning just underneath the surface. Her hands hung at her sides, letting Kara drive, trusting her to know exactly what Kate wanted and needed in that moment. </p><p>“Wow…” Kate whispered as Kara finally released her. “I’m not sure you’re ever topping that one.”</p><p>“I’ve got the rest of our lives to try.” Kara replied and saw something flash briefly in Kate’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”</p><p>“Nothing! God no, nothing’s wrong. Everything is very, very much right. I just… it just hit me that if you asked me to I’d give it all up. The cowl, Gotham, the crusade, everything to be with you.”</p><p>Kara swallowed, knowing what that meant to Kate. “You know I never would, right?”</p><p>“You’re sure?” Kate said carefully. “We, you and I, right now… we could just not put on the suits ever again. Let that part of us fade away and just… be together.”</p><p>“I’m sure. I’d love nothing better to do that, to be with you without any of the.. the… the responsibilities that come with the other side of our lives. But you know neither of us would be able to sleep at night if we did it.”</p><p>Kate sighed. “Yeah, yeah I do. Nice thought though isn’t it?”</p><p>“The best!” Kara kissed her cheek and smiled. “And don’t think it’ll never happen! Clark and Lois managed to find time for two kids juggling two award-winning journalism careers, one full time… uh, other job and generally being good supportive people to themselves, family and friends. “</p><p>“Might hold you to that.” Kate said with a grin. “Talking of, any thing I should know about you that I don’t?”</p><p>“Lots, unfortunately they’re all… uh…. How to put this… not fit for public consumption?”</p><p>“Oh? OH! Sorry.’</p><p>“That’s okay, I’ll share the trauma when we’ve got some alone time, promise.” Kara smiled and for the first time didn’t feel a sense of dread at having to tell those stories. After seeing how sharing had lifted Kate’s spirits she was almost looking forward to it. “In the meantime I believe you wanted to go shopping?”</p><p>Kate laughed, getting to her feet and offering Kara a hand up. “Do you have to put it that way? Makes it sound so.. so… stereotypically girly.” </p><p>“Hence having to put it that way.” Kara pointed out. “Besides knowing you this is basically me getting my revenge in early anyway.”</p><p>“Oh it’s like that is it Danvers? Fine, then how about a little challenge? One hour, best outfit decided at the end of the night purely on how hard the other’s having to try not to jump you.”</p><p>“You’re on!” Kara giggled, trying very hard not to smirk. Perfect, she thought, now she just needed a little luck on her side….</p><p>When they met back up both women were carrying large bags and wearing wicked smiles. The sun was starting to set and while they were a little early for their dinner reservations at least it would give them time to change. As it turned out Kara had booked a table somewhere closer to a club than a restaurant, complete with a large circular podium on which lay a grand piano for live music and near the entrance were a number of changing rooms for guests that didn’t want to risk expensive outfits in the open air.</p><p>Kate took a long, critical look in the mirror as she finished teasing her hair down over her right eye in a frozen wave with edges so sharp they looked like lethal weapons. Her lipstick was a shocking black and made all the more so by the bright red dress. A single panel rose from her waist and looped around her neck, leaving her back and sides bare. The rest of the dress swept the floor without so much as a slit giving a delicious mix of teases she was sure would drive Kara nuts.</p><p>As she stepped out to her surprise Kara wasn’t already waiting for her. The fact she appeared barely ten seconds later confirmed her suspicions that the Kryptonian had just been waiting to hear her walk out. Kate turned and saw an impossible mix of cute and sexy that threw her for a loop. Tall black heels helped push Kara up over the six foot mark, bare legs running up, up up until a slinky black dress brushed her skin at mid-thigh, a lace edge peaking out to tempt the eye. Tightly cut up her body it flared at her chest to show an impressive amount of cleavage before pulling tight to run down her arms. That took care of the sexy but the black beret peached at a rakish angle was the perfect cute topper, blonde hair spilling out in a waterfall over her shoulders.</p><p>As they settled in their front row seats Kara smiled and cast an apprising eye over her date.</p><p>“So… aren’t you cold in that?” She asked playfully.</p><p>“Not when you’re around, no.” Kate replied with a wink. “Nice to see you’ve gone native.”</p><p>“The beret? Isn’t it cute!”</p><p>Kate sighed quietly. This woman was going to be the death of her…. “Very, yes. Which combined with that dress has my brain very confused about which levers it should be pulling.”</p><p>“Oooh, does that mean I win?”</p><p>“What? No, well, not unless you can say this does nothing for you?” Kate draped an arm across the back of Kara’s chair and leaned in until the only thing keeping her modest seemed to be the strength of Kara’s gaze on the thin material covering her breasts.</p><p>“Okay, you’re really going to force me to do this aren’t you?”</p><p>“Do what?”</p><p>“Don’t go anywhere!” Kara said with a firm look as she got up and hurried over to have a hushed conversation with an employee before vanishing into the dimly lit room. </p><p>Kate was just starting to wonder if she should worry about Kara when a spotlight blazed on, illuminating the piano as the man Kara had been talking to walked up. Kate swallowed hard as she saw Kara not ten paces behind him, pausing to whisper something to him before hopping gracefully up onto the top of the piano itself.</p><p>The pianist began playing and Kara, her gaze fixed on Kate, started to sing. “Des yeux qui font baisser les miens.”</p><p>Kate felt her jaw physically drop open as Kara’s beautiful voice rose into the night, her French accent beyond perfect as she effortlessly worked through La Vie en Rose. The entire club was silent as every person in the place watched transfixed but Kara only had eyes for Kate. She’d even, the small part of Kate that wasn’t currently howling at the moon realised, changed the lyrics slightly to turn the male references female. Then even that tiny rational voice was swept away as Kara pulled her legs up under her, stretching out the length of the piano, the most perfect sight Kate had ever seen.</p><p>The song finished as all songs must and Kara thanked the pianist, leaving the stage to a storm of clapping and appreciative calls from her audience. As she swept down and back to their table Kate rose and pulled her into a kiss that set off a second round of applause.</p><p>“So… I win then? As you just basically jumped me in front of a room full of people?” Kara said with a grin that almost drove Kate to her knees.</p><p>“Yes. Yes you win. Can we go now?”</p><p>“Remember what you did last night?”</p><p>“Yes…. Oh. Oh no.”</p><p>“Oh yes. We’re eating first. Sit down and get ordering.”</p><p>“Yes ma’am.” Kate replied with a sigh, reaching for her menu.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>By the time they’d worked their way through three courses Kara decided enough was enough and elected not to repeat Kate’s trick with the coffee from the night before. They settled up and left, wrapped up in each others’ arms as they walked quickly back through the streets towards the hotel. It was only as they passed a dark alley that Kara heard the sudden rush of air as someone leapt forward, one arm wrapping around her and dragging her back, the other holding something sharp to her throat. Instinctively she went to fight back… then noticed the warning look on Kate’s face as the brunette followed her into the alley. Reluctantly Kara paused the imminent pummelling and settled into the role of damsel.</p><p>“Let her go!” Kate demanded, eyes blazing with fury. Anyone stupid enough to threaten her Kara was about to learn some very painful life lessons, like how much blood you could lose in a single night.</p><p>“Oh I will, I just have a little gift for her first, for both of you.”</p><p>“I know all about your ‘gift’ Zsasz!” Kate snarled, circling to her right as she looked for an opening. “You’re not ‘liberating’ anyone tonight.”</p><p>On the top floor of the building above them someone turned on a light in a dingy bathroom. Its glow leaked out past the blind and almost reluctantly lit the scene. The man was tall, well built and with a sea of scars covering his bare chest and back. They were grouped together, almost like tally marks and in his right hand he held a wicked looking knife. It was the look on his face that really worried Kate though as it didn’t speak of madness or vengeance. Instead there was just the decision to kill, a simple choice made purely because he wished to. And for someone like that there was no reasoning with him.</p><p>“Oh little Kate Kane, how wrong you are. I am not just her liberation but yours as well. Straying here far from home, far from the protection of a flock of crows or the big bad bat.”</p><p>“How did you get here Zsasz? Last I heard you were locked up in Arkham and they were debating dusting off the electric chair for you.”</p><p>“I was vouched for, set free as they saw no menace in me, no threat to society.”</p><p>“So why have you got a knife to her throat?”</p><p>Zsasz laughed but the knife didn’t so much as twitch. “Because they were right! I’m no danger to society, I support it by removing the zombies from its midst. And you two… trying so hard to convince the world you’re alive but I see the truth.”</p><p>He kept his eyes on Kate but whispered to Kara. “It’ll be better soon little one.”</p><p>“Will it hurt?” Kara’s voice was tiny and scared, someone who was no threat and had accepted her fate. Kate blinked, surprised then quickly realising why she was going that route.</p><p>“Oh yes. Yes I’m afraid it will. For a long time. It’s rare I find one as pretty as you to… free.”</p><p>He paused, savouring the moment to come and in that instant Kate struck. Launching herself forward she ducked under his madly swinging left arm, landing an agonising punch to his left side, her fingers stabbing stiffly up to a point just above his left armpit, jabbing into his brachial plexus. Her aim was perfect and Zsasz howled in pain as she spun away, the nerve cluster she’d just hit radiating through his arm and causing his left hand to go numb and useless. As he turned, just for a moment, he lost his grip on Kara and she ducked and yanked away, careful not to pull harder than Kara Danvers should be capable of.</p><p>The moment she was clear Kate raced back in to the assault, this time targeting both sciatic nerves. Again the blows were perfect as she systematically took out his limbs, leaving the knife hand to last as he crumpled before her. The knife itself was easily dealt with as she grabbed his hand and twisted it back, ignoring the crunch of bone as she snapped his wrist. The blade fell uselessly to the floor but she wasn’t done, not quite yet. </p><p>As Zsasz sank to the floor he lifted his head just in time to see Kate’s foot come scything through the air to smash hard against his temple. The lights went out and she reluctantly stepped back as the big man crashed to the ground unconscious. Kate quickly checked what little clothing he had to see if there were any more hints to be had as to what, exactly, he was doing here but came up empty.</p><p>“Are you okay?” She asked Kara who looked at her in shock for a moment before remembering the part she was supposed to be playing.</p><p>“I… I think so.” She stumbled forward and wrapped her arms around Kate. “Thank you!”</p><p>“It’s okay, it’s all okay now.” Kate soothed, her hands running down Kara’s back to ease her ’trauma’. “Idiot didn’t do his homework, forgot all about my army training and took me for a socialite. His mistake.” She took another look at Kara who sniffled slightly over-dramatically. </p><p>“Come on, let’s get you home.” Kate said, taking Kara by the hand and leading her out of the alley and the last few hundred yards to their hotel. </p><p>Once they were safely alone and the door was locked and bolted Kate turned to face her girlfriend and sighed. Kara had perched herself on the edge of the bed and was looking at her wide-eyed. “Well I simply don’t know what a little thing like me would have done without you.” She said in a surprisingly decent southern accent. “I dread to think what that awful, awful man would have done to me.”</p><p>“You done?” Kate asked, unable to keep the amused smirk from her face.</p><p>“For now.” Kara replied with a wink. “But seriously, what the hell was that?”</p><p>“Victor Zsasz. Really nasty piece of work, kills innocents for fun and usually picks on young women into the bargain.”</p><p>“Seems a bit of a coincidence he’s here in Paris rather than Gotham?”</p><p>“Just a bit, yeah.” Kate said with a sigh. </p><p>“Fairly willing to bet Lex is behind this one.” Kara said matter-of-factly.</p><p>“No bet. On the other hand Zsasz didn’t have anything other than his normal knife so I’d guess he didn’t know who we, or at least you, really are.”</p><p>“Good point and that would make this, what, a warning shot?”</p><p>“Maybe, though a warning about what? It’s not like Lex hasn’t already got ‘us’ targeted.”</p><p>“Okay, so if that’s not it then…” Kara trailed off, her mind racing. “Oh that sneaky bastard…” She shot a look at Kate who blinked as she followed Kara’s train of thought to its logical conclusion.</p><p>“He went after you, not me.” She breathed. “Tried to put you in a position where you’d fight back and do something Kara Danvers shouldn’t be able to.”</p><p>“So he’s quite happy for us to out ourselves but not to do it himself?” Kara said thoughtfully. “We might be right about Lena being a problem for him if he’s going to this much trouble to keep his own hands clean.”</p><p>“Let’s hope that holds.” Kate replied with a weary shrug. “If he decides it’s more trouble than it’s worth all he’s got to do is step in front of a TV camera for about ten seconds.”</p><p>“But we can’t do anything about that.” Kara pointed out. “And we’re off to London in two days so let’s start going on the offensive, at least a little.”</p><p>“What do you have in mind?”</p><p>“I want to get a look at that tower. Preferably after-hours and poking into places we shouldn’t be.”</p><p>“Tricky but not impossible…”</p><p>“So let’s spend tomorrow looking through that data pile for anything that might give us a hint as to what, exactly, we need to be looking for. Better still, if we let slip somehow that some moron with a knife tried to mug us and you kicked his ass it’ll give us an excuse to have a day out of the limelght.”</p><p>“Plus it’ll make sure that Lena will likely find out about it. Probably won’t do much but might make Lex’s life a bit more complicated.”</p><p>“Exactly. So… plan?”</p><p>“Plan.” Kate nodded, mentally running through the details. “Though.. hmm, when did you want to hit the tower?”</p><p>“I was thinking first day there. Book a sightseeing trip there in the day to get the layout down then head back after dark?”</p><p>“That works but we’ll need a decent alibi…” Kate looked up with a grin that Kara was both coming to dread and adore. “And I’ve got just the thing!”</p><p>“Uh-oh, I know that look!”</p><p>“You’ll like this one, promise. Though let me sleep on it, make sure this is gonna work before I tell you the details.”</p><p>“Now I’m REALLY worried!”</p><p>Kate laughed and reached out for the girl of steel, pulling her up into an embrace. “So Victor Zsasz holds a knife to your throat and you don’t even blink, I mention a fun time and you’re worried?”</p><p>“What can I say, I’ve got my priorities straight.” Kara winked, letting her arms slide down Kate’s bare back to rest on the curve of her ass. “Now what can a poor, defenceless damsel do to thank her bold knight in skimpy armour?”</p><p>“Uh… honestly?”</p><p>“This is going to involve two pints of honey, a tuning fork and… and a spatula isn’t it?”</p><p>“You’ve been reading my diary again. Actually no, kinda the opposite in fact. Is there any chance of, well, of a super massage?”</p><p>“I think that could be arranged Ms Kane.” Kara led Kate to the bed and patted the smooth sheet. Kate eagerly melted on to the silk, reaching up to untie the loop of dress from around her throat as she did so to leave her naked from the waist up.</p><p>“I’m all yours Ms Danvers.” She said in a husky voice then groaned as Kara’s hands went to work on her neck. Of the many temptations that came with dating Supergirl this was maybe the hardest to resist. A massage from Kara was something no-one and nothing on the planet could match save, perhaps, her cousin and that didn’t have quite the same impact for Kate. It wasn’t just that the hands working over her reluctant, tense muscles could bend steel or punch through mountains, though that helped. Kara was using her x-ray vision to watch how every last millimetre of Kate’s body was reacting, could spot knots before she touched them, figure out how Kate’s body *wanted* to move without a single false step. Plus, of course, it didn’t hurt that she was also straddling Kate’s hips while she did so.</p><p>Within a minute Kate was actually purring at Kara’s touch, within two she was so relaxed she didn’t think she could move now even if a horde of bad guys broke in the door. In truth this was the reason she didn’t ask for Kara to do this too often as she already knew she’d be asleep before any additional fun could happen. Plus it felt so good it’d be very, very easy to get addicted and she would much rather save that sort of aching need for the woman giving her such wonderful sensations. </p><p>Sure enough Kara was barely beyond Kate’s waist before she heard the slight change in her breathing as she fell asleep at her touch. She smiled, a mix of pride and pleasure as she saw her lover truly, fully relaxed underneath her, so beautiful when she was at peace with the world. Kara eased back on the strength of the massage but kept going, making sure she got to everything that could be causing the slightest bit of stress or tension. Only when she was completely satisfied did she slide off and slip into bed alongside the brunette, snuggling up and enjoying the warmth of her in her arms, the comforting sound of her heartbeat that rang as clear as a bell on a summer day to the girl from Krypton.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It didn’t take much more than a tweet from both women the next morning to generate a surprisingly large amount of media attention. There were, of course, the usual deluge of calls through the Wayne Enterprise PR department but Kate had been extremely explicit in what would happen should anyone even think of getting in touch with her while she was touring Europe with a beautiful blonde news reporter. Every single person on the payroll was very clear that, at least until they heard otherwise, this was a ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you’ situation. </p><p>Kara had half-wondered if any of her friends would take the opportunity to call but they all proved to be too smart for that. They knew full well that any attempt to contact her would be seen by Lex as collaboration so had to settle for singing Kate’s praises for ‘defending’ Kara if anyone asked. By far the most problematic case was for Nia though, as Andrea constantly pushed her to get an exclusive interview with Kara. Thankfully Nia was used to covering for weird situations at this point and settled for leaving a bunch of messages on Kara’s email. It proved she was trying to do as instructed, covered Kara from anyone else at CatCo trying to get in touch and had the added benefit of driving Lex Luthor crazy as he tried to find hidden messages that simply weren’t there. Not that Nia could resist adding in a few simple ones to poke him a little, like making sure the first letter of every line could be combined to form something that might, in certain circumstances, be a password. Or making oblique references to personal memories in an attempt to ‘guilt’ Kara into talking to her but that could also have been veiled hints as to what they’d done at the time being pertinent to the Supergirl situation. </p><p>Kara, of course, spotted them pretty quickly and both her and Kate spent most of the morning trying not to giggle as they pictured Lex wishing he had hair to pull out as the clues mounted and pointed in a dozen different directions. It was, in truth, a welcome distraction as they trawled through page after page of corporate emails, project documentation, shipping manifests, building designs and so much more looking for anything odd that might help them out. </p><p>“Ugh, my eyeballs are going to burst if I see one more policy document on reducing toner costs.” Kate grumbled, pushing the laptop away. “Tell you what, I need to go grab some stuff for our alibi anyway, I’ll pick up lunch while I’m out.”</p><p>“Sounds good.” Kara agreed. “As we’re in Paris… fresh baguettes?” </p><p>“A carb load seems like a good idea all things considered.” Kate said with a smile. “I’m assuming the usual six for you?”</p><p>“Uh, yes please.” Kara said with a slightly abashed look but Kate just laughed.</p><p>“You know, there are days I really envy you that bottomless stomach.”</p><p>“You do?”</p><p>“Sure, you get to try everything good wherever we go, I’ve got to pick and choose.”</p><p>“At least I share my hard-won knowledge….”</p><p>“True, and that probably saves me a dozen hours in the gym every week so I’d say we’re even. See you in a bit.”</p><p>Naturally enough less than five minutes after Kate had left Kara stumbled across what they’d been looking for all morning and had to wait over an hour to share the find. Her frustration was tempered by digging further into the mountain of records and by the time Kate came back with a couple of bags and an armful of still-warm sandwiches Kara thought she might have cracked it.</p><p>“One six pack of baguettes as requested.” Kate said, letting Kara grab their lunch before putting the rest of the bags down. </p><p>“You’re the best!” Kara gave her a quick kiss before nodding to the laptop. “And in return I think I may have got a lead.”</p><p>“I thought I was meant to be the detective?” Kate quipped, settling down to read.</p><p>“Right now you’re the unbelievably bad ass ex-military ass kicker who saved the world renowned journalist. Don’t be greedy.” Kara admonished her. “Have a close look at that shipping manifest.”</p><p>“Uh, let’s see…. Six crates of air conditioning parts? That’s not that out of the ordinary for a building the size of the Shard.”</p><p>“No, but look at the date. Those were delivered about a year after they opened for business. There’s nothing I can find that shows anything being taken out so they weren’t replacements or anything like that. And the building was designed to be future proof including handling global warming so even the AC was given a healthy amount of head room.”</p><p>“Hmm… did they have any new tenants come in, something that could need additional cooling like, oh, computer hosting centre?”</p><p>“Not that I’ve been able to find, no.”</p><p>“That does sound… wait a minute…” Kate had moved to the second page and an item had jumped out at her. “Have you seen these packing manifests?”</p><p>“I didn’t think there was a manifest?”</p><p>“Of what, exactly, was shipped no there isn’t but they do list the packaging itself.”</p><p>“And?”</p><p>“And these are temperature controlled systems. Designed to keep whatever’s in them at a stable temperature with minimal variation for at least a couple of days. Pretty beefy ones too if these dimensions and weights are right. Sure as hell not the sort of thing you use to ship AC units.”</p><p>“So what do you transport in them?”</p><p>“Usually something chemical that you need to keep in a nice stable state. A lot of it, heck most if it really, is perfectly safe but if it gets too warm or too cold you can’t reliably use it in whatever process you’ve got planned.”</p><p>“And the bits that aren’t perfectly safe?”</p><p>“Can be really, really nasty.” Kate admitted. “Looks like… yeah, four out of the six crates were temperature controlled. If I had to guess I’d say the AC units did ship but only a third of what’s listed and they were to keep the room at the right temperature for whatever’s in the rest of the crates.”</p><p>“That’s probably bad.” Kara said grimly. “Considering I found near identical shipments to all six of the buildings we’d noticed had that weird antenna and power setup.”</p><p>“Please tell me that you hadn’t got round to checking the rest of Lex’s empire yet?”</p><p>“Unfortunately yes, I did. And nothing like this went anywhere else that I could find.”</p><p>“Well I’d say that makes our date tomorrow a little more urgent.”</p><p>“No kidding. Figured out what you’re wearing yet?”</p><p>Kate couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation but had to admit it was actually a pretty good cover for their true intentions.</p><p>“Yeah, and I got you something pretty as well, don’t worry.” Kara made a face that was half excitement, half annoyance and started to walk over to the bags.</p><p>“Uh, don’t bother, they’re being shipped to London for us.” Kate said. “I… didn’t want to spoil the surprise.” Kara paused and thought about that for a moment then nodded understanding. One less way to easily link whatever Kate had decided was a suitable replacement for their super suits to their civilian identities. </p><p>“So what did you pick up from the fashion Mecca of Paris?” She asked curiously pulling out a box with, of all things, a Sony logo on it.</p><p>“An alibi.” Kate whispered in her ear, making Kara jump as yet again Batwoman had somehow managed to sneak up on someone with super hearing. “But your food’s getting cold.”</p><p>As Kara ate Kate slipped an arm around her and whispered the plan for the rest of the day to her.</p><p>“The attack last night has really fired up the press. They’re going to be *everywhere* when we get to London which is going to make doing anything quietly difficult.”</p><p>“So how do we solve that?” </p><p>“By being very, very noisy.” Kate grinned and kissed Kara’s forehead at the worried look the blonde threw her.</p><p>“Basically no matter how scummy the press are being the one thing they’re not going to do is try to get photos of us… uh…. “</p><p>“Screwing?” Kara asked as innocently as she could manage under the circumstances.</p><p>“Let’s go with that. But this is Britain we’re talking about and there’s nothing they love more than to splash big sex romps across the front pages of the tabloids.”</p><p>“But if they’re not going to see it…” Kara sent a suspicious look at the bagged boxes then back at Kate.</p><p>“Then they usually hear it.” Kate finished for her. “There’s already a general ‘throwing around public displays of affection’ vibe in the coverage thanks to your performance last night and, uh, other things so that makes it a bit easier to make this seem believable.”</p><p>“Make… what seem believable, exactly?”</p><p>“That we’re so into each other that we spend all night pushing the other into very explicit and very loud orgasmic bliss.” </p><p>“Don’t we?”</p><p>“Mostly, yes, but we normally stop at plain old loud. Annoying to anyone next door but that’s about it. We need to make sure that anyone camped out in the hallway can hear enough to write a decently smutty story and publish it before the sun comes up.”</p><p>“Not that I’m complaining but… can’t we just turn up the speakers?”</p><p>“In London, yes, we could. But we kinda need to do the same thing here, today and that’s a live performance lover.” Kate raised an eyebrow and Kara shivered, her mind and body racing to some very enjoyable memories.</p><p>“Again, no complaints but why exactly?”</p><p>“Because I need an excuse to get our London hotel to let us book the entire floor and mass complaints from their Paris branch would fit the bill perfectly.”</p><p>“I see. So, basically, you want to spend the afternoon screwing my brains out to the point I scream your name loud enough to be heard in Gotham?”</p><p>“Yeeeeeeeep.” Kate said and the look on her face did the impossible as, suddenly, Kara wasn’t hungry anymore. She reached for the other woman only for a hand to gently press against her chest.</p><p>“Five minutes. Need to get the recorders set up.”</p><p>“I could do that in five seconds you know.”</p><p>“I know but Kara Danvers can’t so, instead, you can get naked on the bed and watch my ass as I do all the work.”</p><p>“The things I endure for justice.” Kara quipped doing as she was instructed but, just to get a little bit of payback, ended up skipping the traditional lying under the sheet waiting pose. Instead she knelt on the sheets, hands on hips, legs spread just far enough apart for Kate to notice her excitement glistening against her skin.</p><p>“That’s hardly fair!” Kate protested, almost dropping the microphone she was wiring in to the small sound desk.</p><p>“Oh I know.” Kara said smugly. “At least I didn’t do this.” She lent back, her hands stretching above her head, showing off her insanely toned figure. Kate swallowed and raced through the rest of her task faster than any sound tech could dream of. The moment the last cable was in she checked the recording levels were right, flipped the switch and raced across the room, diving across the bed to tackle Kara to the sheets in a flurry of limbs. </p><p>Sure enough, not long after, their plan swung into action as the microphones dutifully started recording their alibi and the front desk of the hotel started to field the first in a substantial list of noise complaints…</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A quick note that this is kinda sorta being designed as an episode (well, multi-part crossover) of the CW shows hence the lack of vast crowd scenes or huge punch-ups. Gotta save the budget for when it counts ;-)</p>
<p>One other thing I learnt when writing this is it's bloody difficult to come up with outfits for Kate! Kara, no bother, five years of examples and a relatively straightforward style but Kate? No. So there's some blatant cheating going on and I'm borrowing from Ruby Rose real life fashion sense because she has one and I don't! Which is a nice way of saying if you need some reference material just google around and I'm sure you'll figure out where the inspiration came from.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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